AV News 197 - August 2014
Be careful of zooming however, as you zoom into an image you will often
noticably lose quality. If I zoom in within a sequence, then I ensure that the
image I use is bigger. In this case, with a 'normal' screen size of 1400x1050
pixels I would have to look at how much I zoom, in this case 150%, So I would
need to create an image 150% larger, i.e. 2100x1575 pixels, so that when I
zoom in to a portion of it I retain the quality.
You might also find that you can use a similar technique for panning across
an image. This might be appropriate if you have a panorama. Imagine that you
have a 1920x1080 image (widescreen) to be shown on 1400x1050 screen. If
you bring this into O&A then it will fill the screen side to side, but leave black
bars top and bottom. Start by zooming into the image by 133% to fill top to
bottom, but the image is now wider than the screen.
For keyframe1, pan to the left edge of the image, 33 units. For the end of
the pan, at keyframe2, pan to -33 units. Now, during the show the image will
pan from left to right.
Having said that it's possible (and do try it out), pans like this rarely work in
a sequence. I remember a sequence with a 50 second pan across a harbour,
yes it showed the breadth of the scene, but did it keep the audience's
attention?
Once you start using any form of animation, you will also notice a slightly
alarming feature, where pans or zooms start very abruptly and finish equally
abruptly. Fortunately PTE has the facility to create smooth entries and exits
from animations. Under the 'Pan', 'Zoom' and 'Rotate' settings you will notice
buttons, normally marked 'Linear'. In other words, the change between the
situation at keyframe1 and keyframe2 is constant and hence a sudden jump
into and out of movement.
However, there are other options available here, shown quite graphically.
For many situations 'Smooth' is most comfortable, you are eased in and out
of movements.
Use the drop-down to
select 'Smooth' for the Pan
and then repeat for 'Zoom'.
This will ensure that any
pan and/or zoom effects
start gradually and end
gradually, much more
comfortable
for
the
audience.
If you really want to
customise
this
even
more, then there is an
option for you to set up
your own profiles. Click on
'Setting up...' and you will
see the dialogue shown on
the next page.
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